Billing Archive

John Romaine asked:




For anyone thats involved in business, documentation and invoicing especially can become a real tedious part of being self employed. For the the most part, unless you have the luxury of a hired assistant, having to do constant invoicing and bookwork, can really slow you down. This is why it makes perfect sense to use a premade invoice template. Not only can you save a great deal of time, by using one, but it allows you to formalise the process and apply a more uniform framework to your invoicing format. This not only makes your invoices easier to understand, but it helps at tax time also, as your tax agent will have a better understanding of your paperwork.

There are a number of various websites on the net that provide invoice templates. Many of these are provided in a turnkey format, which allow you to download them immediately and begin using them with little or no customization whatsoever. These templates are typically provided in either Microsoft Word format or a PDF, which can be difficult to edit unless you have the supporting software. However, a good quality invoice template may be hard to find, especially one that performs calculations and processes needed data. This is where you need to be mindful of the purpose of the document. There’s no point downloading one that is provided in a basic text only format, if you require something more elaborate that can accommodate functions such as calculations and tax equations. This is where an excel spreadsheet with built in functions may be more suitable.

In any case, a good quality invoice template is most definitely something that most businesses, or individuals will require at some point or another. As said, the benefits of using one will not only save you a considerable amount of time, but also portray you as more professional, in terms of overall presentation.

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Adam Alpers asked:




Millions of people across the nation suffer from severe and debilitating pain. Living day in and day out with chronic pain can begin to take serious toll. Many of the people who live under such circumstances are in desperate need of effective methods of pain relief. What if you could help these people while adding to your practice’s annual profits? With trigger point injections, you may be able to do just that.

Many cases of chronic pain are due to taught bands of muscles called palpable nodules. In the past, treatment for this type of pain was ineffective, to say the least. Patients would seek relief, only to be frustrated with the lack of results. Now, with trigger point injections, the patients who suffer from chronic muscle pain can experience significant relief without unnecessary side effects.

If you are looking for a way to boost your business’s bottom line with minimal start-up expense, you should consider adding trigger point injections to the services you provide to your patients.

Understanding the Pre-Authorization Guidelines of Insurance Providers

If you are going to be adding trigger point injections to the services you provide to your patients, you need to understand how the pre-authorization guidelines of the various insurance providers will affect your billing procedures. Not all insurance companies share the same pre-authorization guidelines. Before you begin providing trigger point injection services, you should research the pre-authorization guidelines required by the insurance providers.

If you have a patient who needs trigger point injection treatment, contact the patient’s insurance company before scheduling the procedure to inquire about what steps are required and if pre-authorization is needed for coverage of these services. While on the phone with the insurance company, also ask whether there is any cap on the number of trigger point injections a patient can receive within a set period of time. Some insurance companies place limits on the number of treatments that will be covered.

While many of the major insurance companies now cover trigger point injections, it is still always a good idea to check with each individual insurance provider prior to actually providing services to a patient. This will prevent you from holding unpaid invoices and will help your patients avoid unexpected medical bills.

A Note Regarding Diagnosis and Billing Codes

When treating patients with trigger point injections, it is important to understand the CPT codes you may be using in order to bill insurance companies for the services you are providing. These are examples of some common CPT codes you may encounter:

Description
CPT Code
Approximate Reimbursement

Injection for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
20526
$113.00

Injection for Ganglion Cyst, Tendon Sheath and Ligament
20550
$86.09

Procedure for One or Two Muscle Groups With One or More Multiple Injections
20552
$123.20

Injections That Include at Least Three Muscle Groups
20553
$243.11

When diagnosing a patient and assigning a diagnosis code, you need to be very selective about the codes you choose. For example, code 20550 was commonly used to describe each injection given to a patient, regardless of the muscle group being treated. However, auditors began “flagging” claims that used this particular code for more than one treatment. Make sure you bill using the code that accurately describes the treatment being provided.

When billing the insurance companies for a patient’s trigger point injections, make sure that you understand the documentation guidelines of that patient’s particular insurance provider. Most insurance companies will require that you document the medical necessity of the treatments given as well as provide progress notes that will meet the insurance company’s requirements for office visit documentation. One place you can look for these guidelines is within the Local Coverage Determinations. Following these guidelines will ensure that you do not run into any trouble with the claims you submit should your charts ever be reviewed.

Boosting Revenue

Just how much revenue can trigger point injections add to your bottom line? Even if you only perform trigger point injections for ten different patients each week, your business can profit an extra $1,200 to $2,500 on a weekly basis. If you have ten patients that require at least five injections, you may be able to profit another $4,000 weekly. It quickly becomes apparent just how lucrative this particular treatment method can be. Once you set up injection schedules for the patients who need regular trigger point injections, you can benefit from a steady flow of revenue from each patient you serve.

Whether your practice is large or small, chances are that you have quite a few patients who suffer from chronic pain. Providing your patients with trigger point injections can provide the pain relief your patients require while providing you with a lucrative revenue resource. When your patients discover that these trigger point injections are an effective form of pain relief, you can expect generate a steady level of income from your trigger point injection services.

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James Windrow asked:




Many fleet-based businesses depend heavily on time consuming record keeping to stay on top of invoicing responsibilities. If this is true for your business model, a GPS tracking system can simplify this task, enabling you to keep more efficient records and save valuable time.

Vehicle Tracking and Record Keeping

A GPS tracking system not only gives you real-time insight into the location, rate of speed and direction of each of your vehicles; it keeps meticulous records on the routes each vehicle takes, the number of times a vehicle has visited a particular location and much more. Imagine being able to provide invoicing to each of your clients by simply running a report. You can quickly and easily determine the man hours and fuel spent servicing a particular client for a time period of your choosing, providing a well documented invoicing structure.

Definitive Invoice Verification

Having detailed, historical vehicle tracking and reporting can prove to be useful in the case of a customer dispute. A GPS tracking solution enables you to provide definitive information on the dates and times your fleet visited a particular job site. Some GPS tracking systems will provide historical data for as many as 3 years. Such information can be leveraged to protect your business interests in the case of an invoicing dispute.

Not only will you know the time and date of every visit your fleet has made to a particular location, you can track how long your vehicle remained on the premise, the route your driver took and much more. This information can then be drawn upon at anytime to assist in future job bidding and route planning.

A GPS tracking solution can help you save valuable time and money while taking the guesswork out of your bookkeeping. So what are you waiting for? Implement GPS tracking and manage your fleet a level you never thought possible.

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Helen Hecker asked:




You probably know that the medical billing field is part of the health care industry, which is the fastest growing industry for jobs in the US. And medical billers account for one of the most sought after careers because of the high demand by billing services, billing companies and doctors offices. Coding is often mentioned but it is a separate function done by coders and the codes are implemented before they reach billing.

A medical biller collects posts and manages payments on accounts for medical and health-related professionals and businesses. A Medical Billing Specialist is granted that designation after passing a national exam that certifies them thus the use of the title. They generally will get a much higher hourly rate than a medical billing assistant or clerk.

Medical billers submit health or medical claims and do all the necessary follow up with the health insurance companies. Billers work with patients to solve any health or medical billing problems that may have cropped up. They’ll help work out a repayment plan and help find resources to help patients make their payments that are not covered by health insurance.

A medical billing salary depends on the type and amount of education or medical billing training you have. You may get paid more if you have more education. Or you may get paid more if you have more experience. Generally the more experience you have will get you a higher rate rather than just starting out with more education. In most cases you will want to have at least a high school diploma or GED.

Because there are no specific education requirements you can try to work your way into this field if you are already working in the same company, doctor’s office or clinic.

Salary will also depend on what city and state you live in and how much demand there is for medical billers. Although most billing jobs are daytime jobs and 40 hours per week, many insurance companies have evening and graveyard shifts in order to get the billing work done. Working these hours will give you a higher rate of pay.

So starting out you could be making $10 an hour with little experience in a smaller billing company or large doctor’s office or clinic. You can work your way up to $30 or $40 an hour or get medical billing training and start at a rate in between. There are many variables in terms of salary and the best suggestion is to call around to the various billing companies in your area and ask what they pay their medical billers.

Medical coders have much the same salary range based on education and experience but if they want certification they need to pass a different exam. Medical coders get a higher salary also.

If you decide you want to go to work in this industry getting the best medical billing training will give you a higher salary. Make sure to check out the financial aid available for online courses, programs, classes and schools that are available for both online and on campus education and beware of scams

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Henrik Poulsen asked:




Though invoicing is an important aspect for any small business, it usually is a much hated chore for many small business owners. But it does not have to be a hated chore: Using the ideal software to speed the process up invoicing will be over in a minute, and your time can be spent doing other things.

With invoicing software, any business stands to enjoy a couple of benefits. For starters, it gives your business a professional look and as such, attracts more clients. Using a customized invoice will also ensure your invoice will be noticed by your customers and put in the top of the pile when they make payments.

Once the software is set up with your business information, your customers, and your inventory (customers and inventory can be imported into the software so you don’t have to enter all the information) you can create your first invoice. Making this invoice will only take a few minutes and you can print it for mail, or you can create a PDF document and e-mail the invoice to your customer.

If you are in a business with repeat customers making the same order each week/month/year you can benefit from our recurring invoice feature. Here you create the invoice one time, and then enter information such as how often you will make the invoice etc. When this is done you have in effect automated your invoicing, from now on you only need to press a button and the software creates all recurring invoices for you.

Ideally, this makes the entire process easy for you since regardless of the type of business you operate, you have a guarantee of staying on top your paperwork and as such, it can save you a lot when auditors come over or when you need to inspect your accounts. It also gives you the opportunity to automate the invoices.

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Ilse Hagen asked:




Fishing enthusiasts should have a speargun handy when catching fish. A speargun is a great companion when fishing, some even give up the conventional fishing hook and lure and go for a speargun instead. Spearguns are great for catching large fishes like tuna and Blackfish. They are also great for close range fishing.

Guide

Looking for a speargun guide? Then it is best that you know the different kinds of spearguns available. These are:

Multiple band wooden guns – they are made from high quality and exotic wood that have trigger mechanisms of up to 1,000 pounds of weight.

European band guns – also known as pea shooters, European band guns are made for catching small fishes.

Hybrid band guns – a combination of American and European type band guns, these guns have open muzzles, heavy shafts, and extra bands. These are made from carbon fiber that increases performance, making it great for catching fishes of different sizes.

Pneumatic band guns – these are rare types of guns that are hard to find in the market. These are mainly used for open fishing, small cave fishing, and dark blue fishing.

Remember

A speargun guide includes looking for a speargun that has a suitable shaft length according to your level of knowledge and experience in handling spearguns. Also, consider where you will be fishing as a speargun guide. For long range fishing, go for a speargun with a longer shaft. A shorter shaft allows for maneuverability.

Go for a gun that has a shaft diameter of 9/32 inches for faster firing. This shaft diameter also has lesser momentum.

Ultimately, you have to go for a gun according to your level of expertise. Try not to purchase guns just because they perform well if you do not know how to use them. Chances are you will just find it hard to use them and you will not be able to maximize its capacity.

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Kyle Inglarda asked:




It doesn’t matter what sport you look at, there is always at least one brand that dominates the market for equipment designed for that sport. In terms of Spearfishing, there are a number of brands that are very well respected, and as a result they sell the most of the gear. Cressi, Omer, Mares, PADI, Beuchat, Riffe and Picasso are just a few of these major brands that sell all sorts of spearfishing equipment. Some don’t manufacture everything – only a select few make spearguns, and not every brand manufactures wetsuits. Due to this fact, there are specific brands that are best at different niches in the spearfishing market. When it comes to Spearguns, Omer, Piccasso, Riffe, Rob Allen, and Sporasub are some of the better brands to look at.

Obviously, there are a huge number of other brands that also manufacture spearguns, and that isn’t to say that all of their guns are not worth buying (because that is certainly not the case). It’s a matter of looking at the reputation of the brands that make spearguns, and going from there. It’s a common statement amongst those that spearfish that you can’t go wrong with a Rob Allen or Omer Speargun. Likewise, Mares is well known in the SCUBA diving industry, and Beuchat make some of the best wetsuits in the world. At the end of the day, all that really matters is that you get a good quality gun. Look for something that is designed well; metal parts that are hammered a lot, that is easy to use, comfortable to hold and something that looks good (if that is your priority).

There are plenty of guns to choose from, and by getting something that is well designed you are much more likely to use it for a long time. I would highly recommend looking at online reviews before you make purchases though, as there is a wealth of valuable information online!

spearguns

Kristeen Krishnan asked:




There are a number of different places that you could go to today when it comes to the creation of a blank invoice form. However, you might want to consider getting it done on your own as well, since this is not only the cheaper option, but is also relatively simple. The amount of effort involved in getting this done is minimal and you might be surprised to learn about all the different things that you can customize when you go about building the blank invoice form on your own. Listed below are detailed explanations of above mentioned advantages.

Cost Effective

One of the best parts of the blank invoice form built on your own is the fact that you get to do it in the comfort of your very own home. Hence, it is an extremely cost effective endeavor. You don’t really have to spend much other than on the software necessary for creating the same. Instead of paying a professional and having them create the template for you, this would seem like a much simpler option to pursue. You should be able to get the exact design that is suitable for your needs without having to explain to someone else in the middle.

Professional Looking

With a blank invoice form, there is no saying as to what information you might able to include in it in order to get exactly what it might be that you require. Consequently, you can put in information relevant to an invoice and make it look neat and professional. Rather than sticking with a generic invoice form, you can spend some time with a blank invoice form and have it look exactly like what you would want others to think about your company. You might be able to impress your clients when you pay attention to details in this manner.

Easy to Do

The best part of it all is the time involved in getting the blank invoice form to the desired look. The overall time involved is shockingly low, which means that you should be able to design something special without having spent as much at it. This is something that you should be really happy with, as not many things take as little time as your very own invoice form. In fact, a higher number of smaller companies are actively designing their very own invoice form as it is considered to be one of the first steps to take in order to grow

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Daryl H. Bryant asked:




On average, how long does it take your business to collect payments from your customers? Are you currently waiting to obtain payments for services rendered over one or two months ago? If so, then consider implementing an electronic invoicing solution that allows you to invoice your clients via email and accept payments through credit card, EFT (electronic funds transfer) or ACH (Automated Clearing House) direct deposit.

This method of invoicing your clients via an electronic means, such as email, will save your business time, money and provide a return on your investment. My company integrates electronic invoicing systems for our clients and I can say with experience, it allows you to collect payments in weeks rather than months. It’s also much easier for your clients to click a link in an email, fill out some basic credit card information and submit their payment online then it is to print an invoice, write a check and mail it back to you. Your clients will be more inclined to process payments sooner if you provide them with a method that takes one minute to complete.

By doing this, you’re also gaining another significant advantage – the next time you invoice your client, you will have their payment information stored on file so you can easily process their credit card or request payment through their bank account (ACH), without having to wait for them to submit the payment. This will tremendously minimize the amount of outstanding invoices, while giving you more cash flow to run and operate your business today.

Some businesses use PayPal to invoice their clients. As this is a very similar means, it’s not as professional. If you are using PayPal to invoice your clients, you may be showing that you cannot afford to implement an online invoicing solution; however, if you employ a customized e-invoicing solution, you will prove to your customers that you are successful and are continually working to improve your business – a notion that is very important for customer retention.

If you’re currently using PayPal and I just offended you – I apologize. I did not mean you’re not on the right track because you most definitely are. People, who use PayPal, are farther ahead of the game than the business that does not accept any form of electronic payment. I’m just trying to open your eyes and let you know that you can implement a customized e-invoicing solution for your business for a minimal cost and with fewer seller fees than PayPal’s standard transaction costs.

When it’s time to search for a solution that’s right for you, be sure to find an e-invoicing solution that is flexible and provides you with the ability to submit and request payment for both one-time product/service invoices as well at recurring. Also, try to find a solution that accepts both credit cards, as well as processes ACH direct deposits because as your company grows, so will the need to use ACH. Also, ACH transaction fees are much cheaper than credit card transaction fees, so this will give you the capability to process ACH transactions whenever possible. Other than that, the additional features and functionality will depend on your specific business needs – so find a solution that is customized for yours.

I hope you find this article to benefit your business. I’m confident that if you implement an electronic invoicing system for your business, you will reap the benefits instantly and will be able to streamline and run your business more efficiently… as I have for mine and my client’s.

Kansieo.com

Bob Russell asked:




A confluence of factors is driving customers to adopt a new generation of web-based, on-demand business applications via the Internet. The emergence of these Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions is being driven by three primary forces:

Growing frustration among corporate end-users and executives with the costs and complexities associated with traditional, on-premise applications. Broad-based acceptance of consumer-oriented, on-demand services which are setting a new standard for ease-of-use and cost-effectiveness. Rapid evolution of enabling technologies which makes it more economical to develop and deliver SaaS solutions.

As a consequence of these trends, corporate adoption of Software as a Service is accelerating. This adoption is not only among small- and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), but also large-scale enterprises. It is not only in “front-office” applications, such as customer relationship management (CRM), but also in “back-office” areas, such as accounting and financial systems. Industry-specific, vertical market oriented SaaS solutions are also emerging.

The rapid growth of the SaaS market has attracted a widening array of competitors, both start-ups and established independent software vendors (ISVs), seeking to capitalize on this new opportunity. This competition is placing greater pressure on aspiring SaaS providers to develop and deliver highly differentiated solutions at the lowest possible cost.

One of the key attractions of SaaS solutions is their ease of deployment and use from a customer, or end-user, perspective. These same attributes are critical for providers of software as a service who must acquire new customers and scale their operations in a cost-effective manner. However, this “on-boarding” process is fraught with complications and pitfalls that can lead to service delivery problems and customer dissatisfaction.

As a result, Software as a Service is fundamentally changing the nature of the software industry and the way software companies do business. In many cases, the shift to a SaaS model is forcing ISVs to think like a web company, rather than a software vendor. This means creating new ways to engage customers via the web, as well as setting new standards for rapid deployment of their applications.

If a software vendor can’t quickly and cost-effectively on-board customers, it won’t succeed in this online business. And if it can’t automate the on-boarding process, it can’t build a scalable and profitable business.

Yet, Tier 1 Research has found that only 13% of Software as a Service providers had “click-to-buy” functionality on their websites. And, amazingly 70% of web applications and on-demand companies do not have an integrated billing solution.

The State of the SaaS Market

The Software as a Service market is being driven by a combination of ten macro-trends:

Globalization Commoditization/Differentiation Mobility & Worker Dispersion Consumerism Web 2.0 Social Networking On-Demand Reliability/Security Operational Efficiency Out-tasking

Globalization has changed the competitive landscape within nearly every major industry sector. Globalization has not only opened up new markets, it has also opened the door to a new set of offshore competitors offering low-cost products and services which is commoditizing many markets and creating price competition. This commoditization is making it more difficult for companies to differentiate their goods and services.

Worker dispersion and mobility is also allowing people to work anywhere, creating new challenges for companies seeking to give these employees access to corporate applications and databases remotely and securely. At the same time, many workers and corporate executives are becoming comfortable using on-demand, web-based solutions in their personal lives, and are seeking the same ease of use and low cost services to address their corporate and professional needs.

Business professionals have also become more comfortable using online services, such as Amazon.com and iTunes, in their personal lives. This positive consumer experience has set a new standard for the ease-of-use they expect from their software applications in their professional lives.

Today’s Web 2.0 and social networking tools are also being applied to the corporate environment, creating new ways for dispersed workers to interact internally and corporations to engage customers externally.

Growing dependence among companies to communicate internally and externally via the Web has also made them more aware of the escalating challenges of delivering reliable and secure online services. These pressures are intensifying as they attempt to gain greater operating efficiencies in an increasingly competitive market.

Organizations Turn to On-Demand Solutions to Overcome the Shortcomings of Legacy Applications

The growing interest in SaaS solutions is also being driven by escalating frustration, among corporate executives and business end-users, with the fundamental shortcomings of traditional, on-premise software applications.

This frustration is due to the fact that over half of legacy software deployment projects take twice as long or cost twice as much as originally estimated, and nearly a third of software projects are cancelled before they are completed, according to government studies.

The cost overruns continue after the deployment process is completed because maintenance and management costs to keep traditional applications up and running can often be ten times the original license fee, according to AMR Research. AMR Research has also found that the majority of legacy application deployments which are completed are under-utilized. This is because many organizations over-provision their license agreements to simplify the procurement process.

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, companies cannot afford the inefficiencies of legacy applications. Instead, a growing proportion of organizations are looking for new ways to acquire software functionality without the added hardware and staff costs, and ongoing administrative hassles of the past.

As a result of this rising customer interest, Gartner predicts over 25% of all software sales will be via services by year-end 2011, but it is likely that this number will actually turn out to be far greater.

Maybe the clearest indication of the magnitude of this shift toward software services came from Microsoft’s CEO, Steve Ballmer, who predicted at a gathering of public sector CIO’s in March 2007 that 80% of their organizations would be utilizing SaaS solutions by the end of the decade.

The Challenges of Meeting the Varying Needs of Business Users in an On-Demand World

The good news is that a growing number of organizations are willing to adopt Software-as-a-Service to achieve their business objectives. However, based on their consumer experiences, they expect that they will be able to easily acquire on-demand solutions via a simple online transaction and immediately begin to utilize the online application to meet their business needs.

However, corporate demands can be far more complicated than consumer expectations. Many companies will want to try an application before they buy it. They may want to acquire a single user license before making a commitment to an enterprise license. They may want to vary the number of users, number of application modules or level of usage. They may want to use the on-demand applications in business situations which require varying levels of security and reliability.

The intensifying competitive landscape is creating greater pressure on aspiring SaaS vendors to deliver highly differentiated solutions at the lowest possible costs without sacrificing quality. Many of these aspiring on-demand solution providers have not fully considered the complexities of delivering reliable and cost-effective solutions. They often depend on viral marketing and social networking tactics to grow their installed base of customers, but are not prepared for the variety of ways that potential customers might want to acquire their on-demand solutions. However, a bad experience can reduce the likelihood of repeat customers and customer referrals.

Therefore, SaaS vendors must design the solutions to maximize their ease-of-use and optimize the user experience. The quality of the user experience depends on the reliability and performance of a SaaS provider’s service delivery capabilities, as well as the lifecycle of procurement, provisioning, metering, billing and reporting components which are integral to the service delivery process.

Given the impact of escalating price competition within the Software as a a Service market, it is essential for successful SaaS providers to have cost-effective customer acquisition and application management systems in place so they can generate greater sales, without requiring additional staff or cumbersome processes to properly support new customers.

With the success of consumer-oriented on-demand solutions, an expectation has been set that business-oriented hosted application solutions will be equally easy to acquire and use. Many online vendors have promised highly automated procurement, billing and reporting systems. However, the reality can be very different for many SaaS providers.

Tier 1 Research reported at its SaaS Evolution Summit in March 2007, that only 13% of SaaS providers had “click-to-buy” functionality on their websites. Although many of these companies offer online demos of their applications, when a customer decides to subscribe to the service a salesperson must become engaged to administer the transaction.

While this human interaction may seem attractive, it can result in a clumsy and costly manual process. This is especially true as corporate customers demand varying contracting arrangements. Some may want per user pricing, while others may be seeking usage-based pricing. Companies that don’t have integrated order entry and service provisioning capabilities to handle new customers or modify the service levels of existing accounts will face serious operational constraints as they try to scale their business.

The marketing hype surrounding on-demand solutions has also set an expectation that companies will be able to acquire online services on a true, pay-as-you-go basis. But many companies also lack reliable service usage metering and measurement capabilities to properly monitor and bill for services. This deficiency can create billing disputes and cause SaaS companies to miss new service sales opportunities.

These issues can become even more complicated when a company attempts to enlist channel partners to sell its services, or when a company attempts to integrate its solutions with third-party SaaS providers. Tracking these transactions can create a multitude of provisioning, metering and billing issues.

Closely associated with these service management issues is the multi-tenant architecture which makes SaaS scalable and profitable. Many aspiring Software as a Service companies are migrating from an on-premise, single-instance, packaged software architecture, and need help designing, developing and hosting a new multi-tenant architecture to ensure it can withstand escalating customer demand.

In many business application areas, sophisticated certifications are required to comply with governmental and/or industry regulations. An increasingly important certification in the online transaction business is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS 1.1).

This worldwide data security standard applies to any organization which stores, transmits or processes credit cardholder data. Because many hosted application customers will acquire these online services via a credit card, it is essential that the SaaS vendor, or its hosting partner, have proper PCI procedures and certifications.

In addition, many companies are still relying on hosting companies that cannot consistently meet their availability and performance promises. These vendors are under the misconception that hosting is a commodity business and can be taken for granted. They fail to recognize that many general purpose hosting companies lack high-availability service delivery capabilities, comprehensive management systems and proactive reporting mechanisms to support the “five nines” service standards necessary in the SaaS market.

As a consequence, the SaaS providers relying on general purpose hosting companies are often notified by their customers when service outages occur. This is no way to win and retain customer trust and confidence, and build a Software-as-a-Service business.

In fact, falling short in any of these areas can have a detrimental impact on the quality of the customer experience, harm customer satisfaction and lead to customer abandonment. Just as in the wireless service business, customer churn can be very costly in the SaaS market. But, with the plethora of online chat rooms, reports of poor customer service travel faster and further in the market, seriously undercutting a vendor’s chances for success.

However, most aspiring SaaS companies face escalating competitive pressures which require them to focus their energies on building the best on-demand applications possible, rather than worrying about the service delivery infrastructure and operational processes which will support them. The subscription fee structure associated with web application delivery also makes it difficult for companies to invest in their own service delivery infrastructure and support staff to address these issues.

How Application Delivery Companies Are Addressing the SaaS On-Boarding Challenges

Many vendors will have to turn to a third party hosting company for infrastructure or support. Application hosting or delivery company must go beyond traditional hosting and managed services in order to maximize ROI for ISVs. The most up-to-date application management companies will provide an On-Demand platform including an end-to-end set of services which enable Web application and on-demand companies to more quickly and effectively develop and deliver their online solutions.

Along with this inclusive set of services, hosting companies should offer a payment and collections processing solution to help web application and on-demand companies overcome the challenges of billing for software delivered via the web. Ideal tools in this niche would include–at a minimum–account activation, pricing and rate implementation, accrual of usage information, invoice generation and delivery, and the processing of payments, collections, and service suspensions. ISV’s should also seek a hosting solution that would provide real-time account creation, user authentication and authorization, activity tracking, pricing and rating, billing, and customer service that can scale to millions of users. This scalability and flexibility is something that application management companies must provide in order for the delivery of the application to be successful.

Application delivery and hosting companies also need to provide ISVs and developers with comprehensive analytics packages. This is also crucial to the success of a given application since it enables web application and on-demand solutions companies to obtain a wide range of operational indicators to better manage their business and optimize their performance, such as:

Bandwidth consumed Performance thresholds Units consumed: Clicks, seats, downloads Sign-on rates Customer churn Growth rates Advertising ROI Feature utilization Daily revenue run rates

Finally, its behooves ISVs to recognize that the subscription fee model associated with SaaS can represent a significant impediment for many ISVs who are attempting to start-up and later scale their operations. This makes success-based pricing models advantageous for ISVs, since they would pay for application management services as they would generate revenue from their SaaS solutions. This eliminates expensive investments in infrastructure and staff and reduces start-up risk.

Summary and Conclusions

As organizations become increasingly fed up with the costs and complexities of legacy applications, they are becoming more receptive to on-demand software alternatives. The pervasive nature of on-demand services in the consumer world has also made business professionals more aware of the potential benefits of the alternatives emerging in online web applications.

However, the ease of use and reliability of these consumer-oriented, web-based services has set a high standard for the quality of service which corporate users expect from their aplication solutions. They expect it to be just as easy to get on-board with SaaS solutions as it is to acquire popular online services. ISVs seeking to become leading on-demand vendors must implement procurement and provisioning system which makes this possible.

Ironically, the pay-as-you-go subscription services model associated with SaaS makes it difficult for ISVs to invest in service delivery infrastructure, provisioning, billing and reporting systems to fully meet the needs of their customers. Instead, ISVs must focus their limited financial and staff resources on designing web-based applications which are more compelling than their competitors.

As a result, smart ISVs are teaming with service and application delivery providers who can do more than simply host their applications. They are looking for providers who can help them design their applications to ensure they are scaleable and secure. They are looking for providers who can monitor and manage the applications 24×7. They are looking for providers who can help them provision and charge for their applications. And, they are looking for providers who can help them build a successful SaaS business in an increasingly challenging market.

Kansieo.com